I am a child of the 60’s and 70’s.
Surprised? Why, thank you, I try to eat and live well, though not perfectly, I assure you!
I freely admit this electrifying fact about my time treading the planet because I have a point to share with you.
I remember the gold standard.
What is this mysterious concept of which I speak, you say? And when did it die the inevitable death of obsolescence along with the rotary phone and VHS rental services?
We had our rotary phone right up to the day I left home in 1980 – I tried to kill that thing with my terrible teenaged temper numerous time, and it was a hardened soldier.
Never even so much as a crack. They don’t make things to last like that anymore, do they?
The gold standard ended with Tricky Dick Nixon announcing the end of the convertibility of the dollar into gold, as well as freezing prices and wages by executive order for 90 days.
It was supposed to be “temporary,” but the cat was out of the bag. There wasn’t enough gold on reserve to back the dollars in circulation anyway.
And now, of course, with the past couple of years of rampant money-printing in an effort to stop the pandemic bleeding, it is clear that money is an ephemera.
What’s that old joke about money, sex, and oxygen?
None of them are a big deal until you find yourself without them.
Here’s another facet of that idea to think about: at the end of the day, they’re all just basically an idea.
Oh, I know you’re thinking, “money’s tangible.”
What the modern culture refers to as “stacking paper.”
Sure, but the paper is just a promissory note, easily liquified into digital information at the touch of an ATM keypad.
Plus, too much paper can draw the attention of the DEA, or ATF.
You know that yellow stripe embedded in the bills for the past 20-odd years?
A conspiracy-theorist buddy of mine claims they can count your money from space.
Maybe?
The Intangibility of Money
Money is indeed an idea or concept without any tangible presence. It has evolved from physical forms like coins and paper currency to becoming largely intangible, existing primarily in digital representations and financial systems. Several factors contribute to this transition:
E-commerce and Online Shopping: The rise of e-commerce has accelerated the digitalization of money. Online shopping and payment gateways have made it possible for people to make purchases without ever handling physical cash, further reinforcing the idea of money as a conceptual entity.
Abstraction and Representation: Money started as a physical representation of value, but as economies grew and became more complex, the need for a more abstract representation arose. Paper currency and coins were backed by precious metals like gold and silver, but the link to tangible assets was eventually abandoned. Now, money is based on the trust and confidence of the people using it and is represented through digital records and numbers in bank accounts.
Digital Payment Systems: With the rise of technology and the internet, digital payment systems have become prevalent. From credit cards and online banking to mobile wallets and cryptocurrencies, these systems facilitate transactions without the need for physical cash. Money, in digital form, is transferred electronically between accounts, making it a purely conceptual entity.
Fractional Reserve Banking: The majority of money in circulation is created by the fractional reserve banking system. Banks are required to keep only a fraction of the deposits they receive as reserves, allowing them to lend out the rest. This process multiplies the money supply and creates money virtually, further detaching it from tangible assets.
The Magnetism of Attraction
So, money is an idea.
An idea we are all entitled to enjoy, provided we have the wherewithal to obtain it.
Do you need to be any kind of a special person to have money?
No.
The number of people that do have, and do not have money are as many and varied as people themselves.
What’s the secret, then?
The movie “The Secret” tells us this is the law of attraction.
What you think about, and are grateful for, you bring about.
There is some truth to this, but doing it perfectly is like having the perfect marriage.
A lot of damned work, in other words.
Are you up to it?
If you’re nodding your head yes, but are wondering if there isn’t more money hidden in the business you’re doing already, I’ve got good news for you.
If you are scaling a real property investment business with a trend toward future growth and a minimum of $500K in gross revenue, we can help.
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